This week a couple of good profiles have been published on Christopher Nolan in advance of his film Interstellar hitting theaters next week. The two main articles come from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and I recommend checking out both pieces. Together, the profiles feature a great deal of interesting information on the filmmaker and his latest film which I thought might be of interest. I have collected 15 of most interesting tidbits for you after the jump.

Christopher Nolan makes as much as the biggest filmmakers and actors in Hollywood: He was supposedly paid “the greater of more than $10 million or more than 10% of revenue, minus certain deductions” for Interstellar. So if the film ends up making $600 million worldwide, he could earn something in the $60 million range just for release.

Vanity Fair magazine reported that Nolan made $69 million for Inception from back-end for writing, producing, and directing, based on a worldwide gross of $823 million and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics claims the average film director earns an average of $92,220 per year. The bottom 10 percent earns an average of $32,010 annually while the top 10 percent earns in excess of $187,199 per year.

Producers and filmmakers typically receive “overhead” deals only in exchange for giving a movie studio the first option for any projects, but Nolan has a deal where the studio pays for all his development expenses and asks nothing in return. Warner Bros pays for Christopher Nolan’s office suite, assistants, and other expenses without any obligation in return. Of course, Nolan has decided to make Warner Bros the home of the majority of his films.

Paramount Pictures CEO/Chairman Brad Grey claims that the set of Interstellar was the best-dressed film set he ever visited: “Everyone was in suits and ties, and I thought, Who are these folks, everyone talking very nicely to each other, all civilized?”

Sam Raimi also wears a suit while directing, but he does so as an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, as a method of showing authority in the position and as a show of respect to the art of filmmaking.

Christopher Nolan wears suits for an entirely different reason: he decided a long time ago that “it was a waste of energy to choose anew what to wear each day” so he decided upon a uniform that “splits the difference between the demands of an executive suite and a tundra.”

Christopher Nolan’s love for film began when at 7-years-old his father, a British advertising copywriter, took him to see the initial release of Star Warsand a theatrical rerelease of 2001. He began making Super 8 movies with his father’s camera later that year.

Nolan always has a flask of tea in his pocket. Michael Caine told the NYT:

“He always has a flask of tea in his pocket. No matter how hot it is, he has a big overcoat with a pocket big enough for his tea, and he quietly sips it. At a certain point, I thought, There must be something better than tea in there. I asked him, ‘You’ve not got vodka in there, have you?’ He said no, just tea.”